Innovation: Call for proposals to "bring" ENEA patents closer to industry

The new call for the ENEA "Proof of Concept" (PoC) program is underway, with total funding of 300,000 euro, of which 210,000 from the Ministry of Economic Development and 90,000 from the investment fund Progress Tech Transfer, with MITO Technology srl as sole advisor.

The program PoC established IN 2018 by ENEA, jointly with companies willing to share the investment risk to support the development of innovative technologies , has funded 37 projects  with approximately 1.6 million euro.

Compared to the past one, the new call funds exclusively projects aimed at raising the level of technological maturity of ENEA patented inventions and provides for the participation of an institutional investor both in program funding and in the evaluation of project proposals.

The new PoC was born as an answer to the "Call for the implementation of patent enhancement programs through funding of Proof of Concept (PoC) projects of Italian universities, Public Research Bodies (EPR) and Scientifically Oriented Institutes of Hospitalization and Care (IRCCS) ", published by the Ministry of Economic Development (MiSE) in November 2019.

ENEA and MITO Technology srl, a company dedicated to valorisation of research outcomes in support of universities and public bodies, have recently signed a framework agreement to facilitate access to venture capital funds in order to increase investment opportunities in innovative technologies in the field of sustainability and improve the success rates of technology transfer operations.